


Memory Lane

by roborabbit



Category: Romance Club Stories I play, shadows of saintfour
Genre: F/M, Teenage Drama, Visual Novel, romance club, shadows of saintfour - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 14:42:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20083918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roborabbit/pseuds/roborabbit
Summary: I wrote two alternative scenes for my MC Veda and Derek.  One taking place when they were teenagers, and the other during a break at the cabin ten years later.





	Memory Lane

Memory Lane- 1986

Veda’s fingers grasped at the dirt and maggots, trying desperately to pull herself out of the pit. She gagged as she tried to not scream, scared that a mix of the two would fill her mouth and suffocate her. Finding what felt like a root, she pulled hard, only for it to snap, dropping her further and further. No longer able to hold back, she screamed.

A shock of bright light lit up her room and she realized she was being shaken by her shoulders, her mother’s panicked look baring into her. “Veda! Veda wake up honey, wake up!” Veda was immediately embarrassed. “Mom? Oh my God!” She whipped the tears that were running down her cheeks off with a fury and sat up, pushing herself away from her mom’s embrasse. “I’m so sorry mom, I didn’t mean to scare you, I don’t know what came over me.” 

Her mother reached out and rubbed soothing circle’s on her daughter’s back. “Veda sweety, it’s okay, I’m just glad you are alright. You want to tell me about your dream? Or maybe whatever is bothering you?” Veda gave a strained smile and shook her head, her straight long hair falling into her face. “No, I’m ok, I don’t even remember anything about it now…” a lie.

Her mom stood up, kissing her on top of her head, “Alright, well now that we are both fully awake,” she grinned and gave Veda a wink, “I am going to go make you some toast before you head out to see your friends. You guys really need to just see a movie or something, I feel like you four are always getting into trouble, or someone is always being hospitalized, just have a normal day for once!” She looked back at Veda from the doorway, “Honey? Are you listening?” 

Veda was staring off into space, her thoughts consumed with her nightmare. “Yeah mom, I hear you loud and clear. Movies, shopping, etc.” She looked back at her mom as she threw the blankets off of her, “Which would be a lot easier if you maybe increased my allowance?” She smiled, standing up to stretch. Her mom laughed and tilted her head a bit, “I’ll see what I can arrange. Now wash up, I’ll see you downstairs.”

Veda waited for the door to shut, then went over to the hot pink phone in her room. She immediately called Derek, he always knew what to say when she was upset or scared, and these days, it seemed to be a regular occurrence. It only took two rings before he was on the other line, “Yeah? This is Derek.” 

Veda breathed a sigh of relief, she hated when Mr. Nixon answered, he always tried to play 20 questions with her and had a way of making her feel like she had done something wrong, even though she knew she hadn’t. “Hey you, it’s Veda. Are you still free today? I had the worst nightmare, and I really need to hang out with my friends.” Derek mumbled something she couldn’t quite make out, but sighed with relief when he said he could. “How about I come to your house around 11, I’ll call Bobby, you call Candy, and we can go do something fun today.” 

Veda smiled, feeling much better. “Thank you! I hope Candy is feeling up to it, can’t wait to see you guys. Thanks again!” After saying their goodbyes, Veda hung up the phone to call Candy. Candy hadn’t been the same since she showed back up after being taken by Pisaderia. Her recovery was taking a long time, the trauma had a way of taking over. Her phone call with Candy ended pretty abruptly. As Veda had feared, Candy wanted to spend the day reading and sleeping, she just needed time to herself and with her family. Veda understood, gave her best, and hung up. She really looked forward to the day when Candy was in a better place, but she understood better than anyone how traumatizing the Pisadeira events had been.

Taking her brush she combed her hair up high and tied her ponytail up with her favorite pink scrunchie. Little wisps that drove her crazy framed her face. She put some mascara,and just a bit of pink gloss. She was lucky enough to have her mother’s good skin, rarely had a zit appeared on this teenager’s face. Putting on a matching pink short sleeve t-shirt and overalls, she gave herself one more lookover in the mirror. Good enough I guess. She worried she dressed too much like a child sometimes, but it was the weekend, and she wasn’t going to overthink things today! 

She hopped down the stairs and was immediately knocked over by her large black guard dog Halsey. “Ooof!” She landed on her butt and laughed as the dog sniffed her and gave her a lick on the cheek, “Hey!” She laughed as she pushed herself back onto her feet. “I know mom fed you already!” She patted the hound on it’s head and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of peanut butter toast her mom had left for her, and a glass of milk. She noticed a $20 bill sitting next to the toast and smiled, “Thank you mom!” She yelled up the stairs, “Be safe and have fun Veda!” Her mom yelled back down. 

Veda finished her toast and milk, then looked around, she still had a couple of minutes until Bobby and Derek arrived. She grabbed the trash bag and headed out to the trash cans next to the garage. She was making her way around to the side of the house when she saw Derek. He waved and gave her whatever smile he could muster, then took the trash bag from her, “Morning. I got that.” 

“Oh, hey, thanks.” Veda smiled and walked alongside of him, “Candy can’t make it, she wants to spend the day with her family and mostly herself.” Derek tossed the bag in the can and nodded his head, “Not too surprising, Bobby will join us later, he said he would meet us at the cabin around four. He is studying for a big exam in his math class and then has some family event, so it’ll just be you and I.” Veda couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. 

“Oh? Wow, you know what, I don’t think it’s ever just been the two of us.” She smiled and looked around, not sure what else to say for a moment. He shrugged, “Huh, I think you might be right about that.” He looked down and then glanced at her for a moment, both of them looking away when their eyes met. Veda cleared her thought and gave a nervous laugh, “Well, anyways, you want to see a movie? Labyrinth is playing at the theater today at 12:15. I hear the soundtrack is really good.” Derek looked up and smiled, “Sure, sounds like a da...plan. Let’s go, and you can tell me about that nightmare you had.” Veda nodded, feeling a wave of relief that things didn’t have to be awkward between them.   
It had been a couple of weeks since Derek and her had made a bet during a game of Uno that ended with them kissing. She hadn’t considered Derek as anything more than a friend, until that moment she thought only of Bobby’s brother Michael. She still thought about Michael a lot, but that kiss with Derek, it still bubbled up to the top of her thoughts whenever they were in the same room together. Besides, something was going on with Michael, there was a cruelty there that scared her. Derek was a great friend, even if he was stubborn as a mule when it came to getting him to believe everything that happened with Pisadeira. 

As they walked she told him about her dream, how it had been recurring since her first week in Saintfour. Derek listened, taking it all in, “That sounds awful, but, Pisadeira is gone Veda, and you made that happen. I don’t know what I can say that will make those nightmares stop, but I believe they will. Just keep talking it out, you know? You can always call Candy, Bobby, me. Us four, we know what went down, we know how scary it all was, and we are all here for each other.” 

He stopped walking and lightly grabbed Veda’s arm, turning her towards him, “I’m sorry I wasn’t always willing to listen. I am now though, I need you to believe that.” Veda looked at where his hand was still holding onto her arm and smiled, “Thank you Derek, that means a lot.” She looked up at him, his eyes were such a pretty shade of blue. She suddenly found herself hugging him tightly, she could feel him tense from the surprise, but then he relaxed, and his arms wrapped around her as well. “Anytime Veda.” He spoke softly into her ear, they pulled back, and looked at each other again, laughing at their obvious awkwardness. “Come on, let’s go see David Bowie dance around with a bunch of puppets.” Derek said with a wink as they made their way to the theater. 

-Two Hours Later-

Veda was laughing as she scooped another bite of rocky road into her mouth, they couldn’t stop quoting the movie, “You remind me of the babe!” Derek sang, “Who do?” Veda responded, “The babe with the power.” Derek sang back in his best David Bowie impression, “What power?” Veda grinned. “The power of Voodoo.” “Who do?” “Remind me of the babe!” Derek finished loudly, making Veda nearly snort from laughing. Derek laughed along with her, “You totally just snorted!” Veda slapped his arm, “I did not, I stopped myself just in time!” Derek shook his head, grinning, “Sure, keep telling yourself that babe!” She rolled her eyes and smiled back, her jaw hurt from smiling so hard at this point. 

Once they had both composed themselves, Derek offered Veda his arm, “Come on, let’s head to the cabin, Bobby will be there soon, we can play a board game or just hang out, maybe sleep off all of this ice cream. Veda nodded, looping her arm in his, suddenly remembering their last game of Uno. Her face flushed red, and she hoped Derek hadn’t noticed. 

They arrived at the cabin and flicked on the lights. Veda collapsed onto the old couch and sighed as she sunk into it’s well worn cushions. “So Bobby should be here in about an hour or so right?” Derek nodded, “Yup.” he walked into the kitchen and brought out two glasses of water, handing one to Veda. “What do you want to do until then?” He asked, sitting about a cushion away from her. Veda felt her mouth go dry, so she gulped down about half of her water immediately. Suddenly she became fully aware that they were alone in an abandoned house, and had an hour to kill. 

“Veda?” Derek’s voice was a whisper, he was looking at her like he was expecting something. “Derek?” Veda stared into his eyes, she could feel that same flush run from her face, down her neck. He scooted closer, closing the space between them. He placed his glass onto the coffee table, hesitated, then took hers out of her hands and did the same with it. Glancing up at her as if asking if it was alright, he leaned in, and just before his lips met hers. “I am still trying to figure things out with Michael, Derek.” It rushed out of her like word vomit, Derek’s mouth closed and he looked away. 

She could feel herself start to panic, which meant only one thing, more word vomit…. “I don’t want to lead you on, because what we have, this friendship, it means so much more to me, even more than whatever is going on with Michael. I don’t want to ever hurt you like that.” 

Derek looked back at Veda again, his eyes were kind, and he had a small smile. He took her hand and squeezed it. “I get it Veda.” He kissed the tips of her fingers, her mouth opened as if to protest, and instead Derek stopped her, his lips meeting hers. She pulled back, “Derek…” 

“Veda, you won’t hurt me,” he interrupted, “I know full well that you’ll pick Michael. I just think we owe ourselves this one moment, just to see if there is anything here before we get interrupted and we never get another chance.” His hand cupped her cheek, and she leaned into another kiss, his tongue pressing against hers. Kissing him felt different than kissing Michael. Not a bad different, not better either. Just different. She didn’t want to stop, and she draped her arms around him as he gently pushed her back onto the couch. 

Without realizing it, her legs wrapped around him, she felt him shift above her, “Derek,” she gasped and she felt him unhook the right side of her overalls. “Yeah?” he mumbled as he went to suck on her neck while he flung the strap over her shoulder. She gasped as his hand went under her shirt, cupping her bra. She heard herself moan, it was like she had left her own body and someone else had taken control. Suddenly his hand was under her bra and she came to, pulling away from him, “Stop, please!” He froze and immediately sat up. 

“Oh, yeah of course, s-sorry.” Derek stammered. One of Veda’s legs was still resting across his, she pushed herself back up, tightening her ponytail and looking anywhere but at Derek, “Are we okay?” she whispered. He looked back at her for a moment, not saying anything, just staring, “Veda, do you remember when we were at Bobby’s, and Michael came in and started giving me shit?” He smiled, “you stood up for me, you didn’t let him push me around, no matter what your feelings for him were.” Derek leaned forward to kiss her cheek before resting his forehead against hers. “We will always be okay, Veda.” 

A wave of guilt came crashing over her, this was not how she intended today to go. “You deserve someone great Derek. I’m too much of a mess right now, but I know I love you, just like I love Candy and Bobby. You guys mean so much to me.” She met his eyes again, and felt a ragged breath leave him. “I know, I’m sorry Veda. I just confused things a lot for us, and I got carried away.” He gave her an apologetic smile, “I am really sorry.” She was just about to protest, when suddenly they heard someone clear their throat.

They both looked to the entryway and immediately scooted away, leaving the cushion space between them once again. “Uh, h-hi guys, sorry to interrupt whatever ...whatever this is.” Bobby gestured at them, his face was as red as theirs from embarrassment, “I guess I’m a little early.” Derek grumbled and stood up, “ Jesus Bobby, learn to knock!” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and went down the hall, they heard the bathroom door shut. Veda glanced up at Bobby and then back at the floor. “So, are you two…” Veda shot him a look, “No, Bobby, please don’t start!” She stood up, she was trying to keep herself from begging, “Please don’t say anything to Michael, it all stops here, I promise. Derek and I are friends, and I don't want to mess that up anymore than we already have.” 

Bobby pushed his glasses back up and nodded, “Alright, I wouldn’t say anything to Michael anyways, I love my brother, but I don’t know what he might do to Derek if he knew. Just, be careful Veda, okay? I care about you both, and this is really messy.” Veda nodded, “I know, I know Bobby, I promise, it ends here.” Bobby nodded, and he reached into his bag, pulling out two bags of chips and a six pack of soda, “Come on, let’s set up, he’ll come out when he’s ready. They set up for a short game of D&D, Bobby was a great dungeon master, and while Veda was still learning, she loved playing. They both turned when they heard Derek come out of the bathroom, “Sorry about that, so are we going to play or what?” Any awkwardness between the three of them quickly faded after a few hours of gaming and was replaced with laughter and jabbs over gnomes and elves battling dragons. 

They spent the next couple of hours playing music and adventuring through Bobby’s village of Arthuria. Once it got close to 12am, Bobby and Derek walked Veda home, and as she lay in bed that night Veda dreamt of Michael, his piercing green eyes watching her every move. She dreamt of Adele, whispering into his ear, both of them smirking at her, a hungry look in their eyes as purple flowers came down around them, suffocating her. Finally, she dreamt of Derek, his warm hand, leading her far away from them, and away from the blizzard of purple haze. She spent the rest of her night in a calm, deep sleep, the first in weeks. 

10 years later in the cabin...

Veda sat on the couch, the old gang was back together again and her stomach was in knots. They had been waiting out the storm and reminiscing about the events from ten years ago. She had forgotten so much of it, or so she thought, but sitting with Derek, Bobby and Candy again, all the puzzle pieces were starting to fall back into place. 

“Man, it’s still really coming down out there.” Derek was standing at the window, his hands in his pockets, his silhouette lit up when a streak of lightning suddenly hit. “Woah!” He stepped back surprised, Veda couldn’t help but laugh along with Bobby. Derek looked back at them and rolled his eyes, “Hilarious.” He walked around to the other side of the couch and sat across from Veda, next to Candy. “So where were we?” 

Bobby grinned, “I think there was a game of UNO…” Veda gave a friendly smack upside of Bobby’s head, “Very cute Bobby.” He and Candy laughed while Veda’s face turned bright red, she couldn’t even bring herself to look at Derek. They had hardly spoken to each other since he arrived at the cabin other than a moment when she joined him to get the power back on. She had to admit, the years had been very good to him. His eyes were as blue as always, but he had grown taller, and his shirt hugged his muscles just right. She wanted to know what he had been up to since they had seen each other last. However, none of them seemed that interested in talking about anything other than their past in Saintfour. 

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, it was feeling warm and muggy in the cabin with all the windows shut. She could suddenly feel Derek's eyes on her, and so she risked a glance. He had the faintest of smiles on his face, and it made her whole body flush. She swallowed and grabbed a magazine off the coffee table to fan herself. 

“I know for a fact that it didn’t end with just one kiss, huh Derek?” Bobby continued on, smiling like he had just gotten away with something. Derek grabbed a pillow and flung it at Bobby, who dodged it just in time, “Bobby shut up, you don’t know a damn thing.” Veda looked over at Candy who was clearly confused. “Well, I guess I can’t be too mad you ran your mouth Bobby, you kept that secret for 10 years.” She put the magazine back down and looked at Candy with a shrug, “Sorry to keep you in the dark, it wasn’t a big deal. Well, maybe a big deal when you are in high school and everything is a lot more high stakes.” She looked at Derek, who was still glaring at Bobby. 

“Oh come off it Derek!” She laughed and turned back at Candy, “Bobby walked in on Derek and I post make out session. He didn’t see anything, we had already stopped, but I guess it was pretty obvious, but it was just a one time thing.” She looked over at Derek out of the corner of her eye, he was staring at her, she couldn’t help but smile a little at the memory. 

“I see.” Candy tucked her hair behind her ears, “Kids and their hormones, right?” She gave a forced smile and got up, “I’m going to get a drink, anyone want anything?” They all shook their heads and Candy headed into the kitchen. “Is she okay?” Veda asked Bobby, who shrugged, “I don’t know, honestly she’s always been hard to read. I’ll go check on her.” Bobby got up and headed after Candy. 

Derek and Veda sat across from each other, she took the chance and looked over at him. He was still staring at her, and she couldn’t help but meet his eyes. “Well, looks like that’s out in the open now.” Derek grinned, “I guess it’s about time, 10 years is pretty impressive, especially for Bobby.” Veda laughed, “I know, I’m proud of him, I guess he really was scared Michael was going to kill you.” Derek shrugged and leaned back into the couch, “Would have been worth it.” 

Veda’s mind went blank for a moment, “Yeah, really worth getting beaten to death over a naive, and stuck up high school girl.” Derek shook his head and laughed, “You were neither of those things and you know it.” His head tilted to the side, she felt like he was studying her, and she felt her stomach tighten. “You think Candy is alright? You know she had a crush on you back then, maybe she still does?” Veda grinned as she copied him by leaning back into the cushion as well. Derek’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “Really? Man, I used to think she might, I definitely did, but then sometimes I wasn’t sure if she might be crushing on you.” Veda shook her head and laughed again, “Nope, definitely you.” 

Derek seemed to be considering something for a moment, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Hey, so I brought a little weed, you wouldn’t want to…” he made a smoking gesture with his hand and Veda’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God Derek!” she laughed and he stood up, reaching out to take her hand and pulled her to her feet. They slipped out of the front door and found a small spot where the roof protruded out, making a small space where they were protected from the rain. 

It was still pouring outside, and they were definitely not going to stay very dry, but it was enough shelter for the moment. “I haven’t done this in years!” Veda giggled, Derek smirked and took the joint out of his back pocket and lit it up, taking a long drag. “I haven’t done it in a couple of days.” He smiled and handed it off to her. Veda held the joint for a moment, then took a drag as well, and began to cough immediately. Derek was laughing and patted her back, “Easy there!” They were standing just inches from each other, huddled under what little shelter there was. 

Veda looked up at him, watching his mouth as he took another hit, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, this version of him. He caught her staring, and his eyes squinted, like he knew what she was thinking. She noticed his adam’s apple bob up and down, and it made her happy to know she still made him nervous. They passed the joint back and forth in silence for a while, “So Candy was into me huh?” He had a cocky grin on his face that made her laugh, “Look at you, so proud of yourself. You never made a move though, so you missed your chance.” He shrugged and took another hit, “Yeah well, I had other thoughts on my mind back then.” He looked down at her, their eyes locking for a moment, “You had to know, right? I mean, I didn’t exactly keep it hidden.” She felt a bit of sadness start to poke at the edges of the happy bubble they had just made. “I know...I’m sorry Derek, like I said, I was a stuck up and naive girl, and I was in teenage love with Michael.” 

Derek nodded, “I know.” He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, took a deep breath, “I was a kid, and here was this beautiful girl, my first kiss, the first girl to ever let me grab her boob…” he opened one eye to look at her, she smacked his arm and laughed. He closed his eyes again, “I was so in love with you Veda. You weren’t some naive teenager, you were tough, and funny, and incredibly brave.” Veda stared at the crease between his brows, listening to his ten year old confession. 

Her throat clenched, “Derek?” He opened his eyes and looked back at her, “Yeah?” She looked at his mouth again, she was still brave, she was still tough...she dropped the nearly finished joint and pressed her lips against his. She felt him nearly slip off the wall in surprise, but caught himself before wrapping his arms around her waist. His lips tasted like blueberries from the wrapper, and she lightly sucked at the bottom one before his tongue clashed against hers. She pulled back and ran her hand through his hair, resting it at the nape of his neck. His eyes were glued to her lips, and he kissed her firmly once more. She felt him moan into her mouth, which made her return the favor. “Fuck.” He mumbled to himself, which made her smile. 

They pulled back, looking away again, a feeling of bliss mixed with a lot of confusion basking over them. When they caught each other's eyes again, they both let out a laugh. He leaned forward, and kissed her, gently with just a hint of urgency. “I’ve missed you Veda. I’ve been missing you for a long time.” She kissed him back, and looked him in the eyes, “I’ve missed you too Derek. Maybe after tonight, when we are done with all of this memory lane bullshit, we can spend some time together? See if there is something other than nostalgia between us?” He nodded, and rested his forehead against hers, “I would love that.”

With one last lingering kiss, Derek took her hand and led her back into the cabin. Bobby and Candy were sitting next to each other talking, and stopped when the two of them came through the door. “Ugh, Derek, you guys smell like skunk!” Candy cried out with a laugh. Derek dropped Veda’s hand before the two could notice and they walked over to sit on the couch across from them. “Yeah yeah, come on, let’s get on with it!” He grinned, and collapsed back into the cushion. Veda could feel Bobby studying the two of them, and then rolled his eyes. “Alright, anyways...where were we?” 

“I think somewhere around the time Veda here told Michael to piss off?” They all laughed, Derek discreetly reached over and placed a hand on Veda’s back while laughing with Bobby, making her blush. Who knew what, if anything, would come of this little reunion, but she was ready to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are reading this, thank you for giving my first ever fanfiction a try. Romance Club stories don't have a lot of fan fiction out there, so I thought I would contribute a little something!


End file.
